Nottingham Forest’s Under-23 players did their best to catch the eye of watching first-team manager Martin O’Neill as they clinched a 3-1 victory over Leicester City.

Out-of-favour attacker Jamie Ward found the back of the net, either side of goals from Brennan Johnson, as the Reds came from behind at Alfreton Town’s Impact Arena.

And midfielder Liam Bridcutt, who finds himself down the pecking order at the City Ground, and youngster Arvin Appiah put in impressive performances, with O’Neill and his coaching team of Roy Keane and Steve Guppy watching on.

There was plenty for the management trio to ponder.

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Jimmy Gilligan’s side went into their final Premier League Cup group match against their East Midlands rivals knowing their place in the knockout stages of the competition was already secure, along with top spot in the group.

And they named a strong team against the Foxes, with first-team squad members Ward and Bridcutt getting a rare run-out – the latter wearing the captain’s armband – along with Appiah.

They made a strong start, too; almost taking the lead inside the first 60 seconds. Only the post denied Jake Taylor, whose sweetly-struck volley crashed against the woodwork and bounced away.

Appiah then drove forward a couple of minutes later and played in Jayden Richardson, but Ward couldn’t quite connect with the resulting low ball from the right and Leicester cleared.

The Reds were quickly left to rue those missed chances as, somewhat against the run of play, it was the visitors who went in front with 10 minutes played.

It was an emphatic finish from Admiral Muskwe in the penalty area which did the damage, as he latched on to Tyrese Shade’s cross and fired past Jordan Wright.

Nevertheless, the home side responded well to falling behind, with Bridcutt in particular, putting in an all-action display. The midfielder weighed in with some strong tackles and put in plenty of defensive work as he looked to give his team a platform to build on.

Clearcut chances were hard to come by, however, with the best falling to Ward in the 25th minute.

He had Appiah to thank for creating the opportunity, as the teenager powered forward and showed his strength to hold off his marker before passing to his teammate. The finish didn’t quite match the build-up, though, as Ward’s effort sailed over the bar.

For their part, Leicester rarely looked like increasing their advantage, despite seeing their fair share of the ball – Forest doing a good job of clearing some dangerous crosses.

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As the Foxes struggled to clear a free-kick, Johnson was tripped by Muskwe in the area and stepped up to comfortably net the resulting penalty.

The hosts went on to start the second half as they had ended the first – by getting on the scoresheet, in the 51st minute.

This time, the combination of Appiah and Ward reaped rewards, with the former going on another terrific run and threading an equally impressive ball through to his teammate, who found the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

It was almost a quickfire double from Forest as Yassine En-Neyah drew a good save from Max Bramley just three minutes later, after being played in by Taylor.